Ngaremara Primary School: A Hopeful Horizon

The upcoming water system, breaking ground on August 20th, in Ngaremara holds the potential to transform the entire community.

Ngaremara Primary School, located in Isiolo County, Kenya, boasts a student population of 1,200, making it one of the largest primary schools in the region. The surrounding community is comprised of over 500 households, accommodating nearly 5,000 residents who live within walking distance to the school. Until now, the entire community has been relying on a contaminated river as their only source of water.

With a feeding program that provides meals to 1,200 students and 25 staff members daily, along with supplying drinking water to the entire school population and fulfilling all water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs, the school finds itself severely overwhelmed by the lack of access to clean water.

The school was also forced to discontinue a valuable program for at-risk girls due to water limitation. This program supports girls who were coerced into early marriages by providing them with shelter, education, and a secure environment in the school dormitory. However, due to the lack of water and inadequate sanitation facilities, this initiative could no longer proceed.

The scarcity of water has also adversely affected the community in other ways, leading to a decline in livestock numbers (the community’s livelihood), a lack of clean water for cooking and drinking, exorbitant charges when purchasing water from vendors, and high occurrences of waterborne diseases due to consuming contaminated river water.

With this new water system, everything will change.

By having access to clean drinking water, community members will no longer be dependent on the river or water vendors. The school will be able to sustain its feeding program, and community members will no longer have to embark on long journeys to fetch drinking water for their livestock. This water system will address all water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) requirements for both the community and the school, and they will witness a decline in waterborne illnesses. With the upcoming plans of the drill, the school is looking forward to reviving the girls’ dormitory, along with their program for at-risk girls, offering support and assistance to those in need.

The community is filled with equal parts anticipation and enthusiasm for the promising future that lies ahead. With clean water, students can focus on school, agriculture will support the community’s livelihood once again, and overall development will blossom. Ngaremara is poised for an incredible journey ahead.

We are so thankful for David Kelsey, Kitty & Bill Carley, Chris & Craig Andrews, and PCNA for making this water project possible. It truly is impossible to do this work without the support of amazing partners that help us reach more communities like Ngaremara, and provide more people with the lasting clean water they need to survive and thrive.